Why does GameStop throw away old game cases?

**UPDATE** Check the bottom of this post for additional information just added.

This isn't so much a secret as it is something very fucked up. A lot of people already know this but for those of you who don't I thought it would be a good little tidbit of information to know while you're out shopping at GameStop. Let me start with the scenario.

GameStop's company policy is to always throw away old manuals, cases, inserts, etc. for old games for the PS2 and such (of the few they still actually keep) and even some old games for the 360/PS3/Wii.. Why do they do this? Well, I will tell you why.

They're forced to.

The distributor for GameStop, the one that supplies them with all of their Games for Xbox 360/PS3/Wii/etc. demands that they throw away the cases, manuals, inserts and everything else except the disc itself. How can they make this demand? Why does GameStop do it?

The distributor supplies them with Games at a price they can afford for all of their thousands of stores, and to get this price and maintain an uninterrupted supply of Games, they must meet whatever demands their supplier has. The real fucked up part is the reason why the distributor makes them do that in the first place.

The distributor believes that by not giving the consumers entire cased-games of the old PS2 and other systems that it will entice buyers to overlook those loose-disc games and buy the new ones, which will mean GameStop would have to buy more new ones from them and thus increasing their profits.

I, personally, think that logic is flawed on many levels. I do not shop for games and think "Oh, well, I was going to buy $100 worth of PS2 games but since they're just discs I think I'll instead buy $100 worth of Xbox360/PS3 games." That is just stupid.

**UPDATE**

I have been getting messages from people who are claiming to be Managers and Employees of GameStop. They are saying that the information in this post is untrue. To those who dispute this I have to say that what you do on a daily basis isn't necessarily in accordance with company policies.

I obtained this information from several individuals, some of them were simply regular Employees and Store Managers, but I was able to confirm this information from a very close friend of mine who was hired as a Regional Director. I saw the E-Mail he received informing him of this information as well. This information is 100% accurate and true, but if you don't believe me than so be it, that is your choice.